`` Everyday Use `` By Alice Walker Essay

`` Everyday Use `` By Alice Walker Essay

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Skimming through Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” one might presume the story is about an African-American mother who doesn 't truly grasp her heritage. After further analysis, it’s easy to see that’s not the case here at all. “Everyday Use” is a beautiful short story that captures a battle between materialism and heritage. Alice Walker, an African-American woman herself, does an excellent job portraying this battle between the two, and showing her readers what truly matters when it comes to family and heritage.
In this story, we have four characters who contribute to the overall message. We first meet “Mama,” who describes herself as a hard-working, bigger woman. She lives in what I imagine to be a run-down farm house. This house bares no real windows, has a tin roof, and is located in a pasture on a dirt road. One of Mama’s daughters, Maggie, lives with her in this house. Maggie is very timid and shy, as she has been since a tragic house fire years ago, which left her with scars. The story begins with these two in the yard waiting for Mama’s other daughter Dee, and Dee’s “friend.” Dee and her friend soon pull up to the house in a car, which she exits wearing a flashy dress and jewelry. She grabs a polaroid camera and starts snapping pictures of the house and her family, before even greeting them properly. Mama then welcomes Dee, to which she promptly retorts that her name is now “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo.” She tells her family that she’s changed her name, because she couldn’t stand to keep the name given by the people who oppressed her. Confused, Mama reminds her that she was named after her aunt, who was named after her grandma, and so fourth. The friend with Dee is introduced as Hakim-a-barber, who seems to be a boyfriend or h...

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...she’s a bad person at all, just a student who is still learning and desperately trying to educate herself on her background. The only problem is that she fails to actually get to know her actual family. If she never changes her views, I strongly believe Wangero will regret this deeply when she’s an older woman. She’ll find herself surrounded by pieces of art and displays, while not actually having any family or personal history to reflect on. Alice Walker left us with such a strong message regarding what truly matters when it comes to heritage and family. She makes it very clear that heritage is really nothing without family, when she chooses to make Wangero an antagonist. Going back to David Coward’s critique article, he put it perfectly when he said, “she (Wangero) seems willing to lose her soul to be free of the baleful influences that she thinks have shaped it.”

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- Everyday Use by Alice Walker Through contrasting family members and views in "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the importance of understanding our present life in relation to the traditions of our own people and culture. Using careful descriptions and attitudes, Walker demonstrates which factors contribute to the values of one's heritage and culture; she illustrates that these are represented not by the possession of objects or mere appearances, but by one's lifestyle and attitude. Throughout the story, Walker personifies the different sides of culture and heritage in the characters of Dee and the mother (the narrator).... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use]

- In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, Walker shows differences in human character, just by the way they act towards family members. The main character in the story, Mother, has two daughters that she treats very differently, and they treat her differently. One daughter looks down on Mother in a condescending manner, and the other is obedient and kind. In "Everyday Use", Walker shows that in relationships between a mother and daughters, adaptation to change can sometimes be very hard, which leads to pride and protecting what one has accomplished, and finally shows how un-appreciation can hinder these relationships.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use]

- In every family there seems to be a child that is bestowed with all of the positive aspects of her parents. Unfortunately, for every perfect child there is, it seems that there is one child that is less talented and less beautiful. In the short story, "Everyday Use", these two character descriptions fit perfectly in relation to the characters of Dee and Maggie. Dee is the gifted and beautiful child, whereas Maggie seems to have been left behind by the gene pool and luck. In her short story, "Everyday Use", Alice Walker utilizes language, the tragedy of the fire burning down Maggie's family's house, and her portrayal of Dee to pain an extremely sympathetic portrait of Maggie.... [tags: Everyday Use Alice Walker]

- Everyday Use by Alice Walker “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, is a story of a black family composed of a mother and her two daughters: Maggie and Dee. Walker does an excellent job illustrating her characters. There are all types of characters in this short story from round to static. Dee is a flat character, yet Walker uses Dee’s character to warn people of what might happen if they do not live properly. Walker describes Dee’s character as arrogant and selfish, and through Dee’s character one is allowed to perceive the wicked effect of an egotistical world.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use Essays]

- Everyday Use by Alice Walker In the short story Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, is narration by an African American woman in the South who is faced with the ultimate decision to whom she should give away the two quilts. Dee, her oldest daughter who is visiting from college, perceives the quilts as popular fashion and believes they should undoubtedly be given to her. Maggie, her youngest daughter, who still lives at home and understands the family heritage, has been promised the quilts. The two daughters each have opposing views on the value and worth of the different items in their lives.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use Essays]

- Everyday Use By Alice Walker In Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" Mama is the narrator. She speaks of her family of two daughters Maggie and Dee. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. Throughout the story three themes consistently show. These themes show that the family is separated by shame, knowledge, and pride.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use Essays]

- Symbolism in Alice Walker's Everyday Use History in the Making Heritage is something that comes to or belongs to one by reason of birth. This may be the way it is defined in the dictionary, but everyone has their own beliefs and ideas of what shapes their heritage. In the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, these different views are very evident by the way Dee (Wangero) and Mrs. Johnson (Mama) see the world and the discrepancy of who will inherit the family’s quilts. Symbolism such as certain objects, their front yard, and the different characters, are all used to represent the main theme that heritage is something to always be proud of.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use]

- Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the author portrays opposing ideas about one’s heritage. Through the eyes of two daughters, Dee and Maggie, who have chosen to live their lives in very different manners, the reader can choose which character to identify most with by judging what is really important in one’s life. In Dee’s case, she goes out to make all that can of herself while leaving her past behind, in comparison to Maggie, who stays back with her roots and makes the most out of the surroundings that she has been placed in.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use Essays]

- The Themes and Narration Techniques of "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker, was first published in 1973. The story opens as Maggie and her mother, a black farm woman, await a visit from Maggie's older sister, Dee, and a man who may be her husband--her mother is not sure whether they are actually married. Dee, who was always scornful of her family's way of life, has gone to college and now seems almost as distant as a film star. Maggie, who is not bright and who bears severe burn scars from a house fire many years before, is even more intimidated by her glamorous sibling.... [tags: Alice Walker's Everyday Use]

- Point of View in Alice Walker's Everyday Use Alice Walker is making a statement about the popularization of black culture in "Everyday Use". The story involves characters from both sides of the African American cultural spectrum, conveniently cast as sisters in the story. Dee/Wangero represents the "new black," with her natural hairdo and brightly colored clothing. Maggie remains traditional: the unchanged, unaffected bystander. Nowhere in the dialogue do Walker's characters directly mention their feelings about the Americanization of African tradition.... [tags: Alice Walker Everyday Use]